Financial terminal that automatically reconfigures into different financial processing terminal types

ABSTRACT

An improved financial terminal automatically reconfigures into different financial processing terminal types. In one embodiment, the terminal comprises a housing; a card reader configured to accept at least a portion of a card having an integrated circuit; at least one display; at least one processor; and at least one memory configured to store machine readable code, the machine readable code comprising a first kernel corresponding to a first transaction type and a second kernel corresponding to a second transaction type.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a continuation of PCT Application PCT/US2016/053205,filed Sep. 22, 2016, which claims priority to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/047,198, filed Feb. 18, 2016, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/233,089, filed Sep. 25, 2015. Thepresent application claims priority to each of said applications andincorporates by reference each of said applications as if set forthfully herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices which are used to facilitatethe processing of financial transactions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Magnetic strip debit and credit cards have long been the technology ofchoice for debit and credit transactions. As the use of debit cards andcredit cards have grown throughout the world, criminals have workedharder to steal them. Further compounding the problem has beenlarge-scale data breaches and increasing rates of counterfeit cardfraud. Nearly 40 percent of credit and debit card fraud involves stolenaccount numbers that are used to create counterfeit cards and 20 to 30percent of fraud involves “card-not-present” fraud, wherein accountnumbers are used for transactions online or by phone.

If a thief obtains an account-holder's account number and the three- orfour-digit security code printed on the chip card, the thief can usethat account-holder's account information for transactions online or byphone. Or if the account-holder loses their credit or debit card thatcontains a chip, there's nothing that prevents a thief from using theaccount-holder's card in a store. Current estimates are 30 to 40 percentof fraud involved lost or stolen cards, or claims of fraud that actuallyinvolve the account owner.

A new debit and credit card technology referred to as an integratedcircuit card (referred to herein as an “IC” card”) has been adopted bythe industry to improve payment security and to make it more difficultfor fraudsters to successfully counterfeit cards. Such cards include anintegrated circuit on the card. One such card having a particularstandard is managed by EMVCo, and thus these types of cards are commonlyreferred to as EMV cards. The Smart Card Alliance estimates that by theend of 2015 600 million account-holders will be using an IC card.

As the industry moves away from magnetic strip cards, retailers such ascasinos are looking for new ways to offer more services using ICtechnology.

One key feature of an IC card relates to how the card chip creates aunique transaction code for each consumer action at a terminal (cashwithdraw, cash advance, Point of Sale (POS)). A transaction cannot beused more than once. If a thief stole the chip information from onespecific point of sale, card duplication would not work since the stolentransaction number created for a given transaction wouldn't be usableagain and the transaction would just get denied.

However, the configuration of such integrated circuit cards is limitingto the user of the card, such as in successfully processing a requestfor funds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention is an improved financial terminal thatautomatically reconfigures into different financial processing terminaltypes. In one embodiment, the terminal comprises a housing; a cardreader configured to accept at least a portion of a card having anintegrated circuit; at least one display; at least one processor; and atleast one memory configured to store machine readable code, the machinereadable code comprising a first kernel corresponding to a firsttransaction type and a second kernel corresponding to a secondtransaction type.

In one embodiment, the machine readable code is further configured, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, to determine available financialtransaction types associated with the card which is accepted by the cardreader, to configure the financial terminal to a first configuration byutilizing the first kernel to process a first financial transaction, andwhen the first financial transaction is denied, to automaticallyreconfigure the financial terminal to a second configuration byutilizing the second kernel to process a second financial transaction.

The improved financial terminal may further comprise a monetarydispensing device, such as a currency dispenser.

In one embodiment, the improved financial terminal further comprises acommunication interface configured to transmit information to andreceive information from at least one financial processing network. Themachine readable code may be further configured to send, via thecommunication interface, a request to process the first financialtransaction as a transaction of the first transaction type and send arequest to process the second financial transaction as a transaction ofthe second transaction type.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first transaction type is aPersonal Identification Number (“PIN”) based transaction type and thesecond transaction type is a Signature based transaction type.

The improved financial terminal may be configured so that the card isnot ejected from the card reader when the first financial transaction isdenied. In addition, the terminal may be configured so that the card isautomatically re-read by the card reader after the first financialtransaction is denied.

In one embodiment, the improved financial terminal is configured intothe first configuration based upon receipt of user input, such as aselected financial transaction type.

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention overthe prior art will become apparent from the detailed description of thedrawings which follows, when considered with the attached figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are flow diagrams illustrating a method in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are flow diagrams illustrating a method in accordancewith another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a system in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention; and

FIGS. 4A-4I are screen shots in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a more thorough description of the present invention.It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that thepresent invention may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known features have not been described in detailso as not to obscure the invention.

Aspects of the invention comprise methods, systems and apparatuses forfacilitating and/or processing financial transactions, such as to accessfunds from a financial account. One aspect of the invention is animproved financial terminal.

The invention has particular utility to integrated circuit (“IC”) cardbased transactions, e.g. a card or other media which is preferablyassociated with one or more financial accounts and which utilizes anassociated integrated circuit as part of a financial transactioninformation read/write verification procedure, such as those cards whichcomply with the EMV card standard managed by EMVCo. It will beappreciated that such a card may be associated with one or more sourcesof funds. Such sources of funds may comprise, for example, a checking orsavings account associated with a financial institution such as a bankor credit union. However, the card might be associated with or provideaccess to other sources of funds now or later developed, such as sourcesof credit, electronic wallets, investment accounts and so forth.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are flow diagrams which illustrate one embodiment of atransaction flow of the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates oneembodiment of a system in accordance with the invention. A firstembodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1Aand 1B and FIG. 3.

In step 101, an account-holder or user presents an IC card 307 to aprocessing or transaction terminal 306 in order to receive or accessfunds. As described herein, the funds may be issued or provided to theaccount-holder in various forms, such as in the form of coins, currencyor equivalent, casino ticket of value, electronic funds transfer such asto a vendor, an e-wallet, a casino account, or by other valueinstrument, including where the instrument can be used directly orindirectly as funds to purchase items of value such as casino gamecredits, merchandise, food, rooms, etc.

In one embodiment, such as illustrated in FIG. 3, the terminal 306comprises an improved financial terminal. The terminal 306 may havedifferent sizes, shapes and configurations (including counter-top units,stand-up units, etc.). As one example, the terminal 306 may include ahousing 320, one or more user interfaces and input devices, such as oneor more electronic video displays 322, a keypad/buttons 324, touchscreen, or the like. The terminal preferably also includes a mediareader 326. In the case of an IC card, the reader 326 preferablycomprises a card slot 328 which is configured to accept at least aportion of the card and which includes an associated chip reader, e.g. adevice which is configured to engage/read information associated withthe integrated circuit of the card (and preferably also write ortransmit information to the integrated circuit). The terminal 306 may beconfigured with at least one dispenser 336 to dispense money or monetaryvalue, such as coins and/or currency, other media such as tickets or thelike. The terminal 306 preferably includes one or more processors 330,one or more memory or data storage devices 332 (such as for storingmachine-executable code or “software”), and one or more communicationinterfaces 334 for transmitting and/or receiving data from otherdevices, such as to one or more financial processing networks, remotefinancial institutions or the like.

In one embodiment, the terminal 306 is configured, such as via hardware(e.g. a specially configured processor) and/or software (e.g. machinereadable code which is stored the memory associated with the processorand which is executable by the processor), to perform the functionalityindicated herein. For example, as described in more detail below, thesoftware may be configured to cause the reader to read information fromthe card and present different transaction types to the account-holdervia a display of the terminal, receive a selected transaction type fromthe account-holder, generate information regarding the selection (suchas a request for processing of a requested monetary amount from anidentified account), transmit the information to a financial processingnetwork, accept information regarding the request (such as an approvalor denial received back from the financial processing network), todispense funds (if the transaction is approved), to re-read the card ifthe first transaction is denied to and to generate a new list ofavailable transaction types (which list preferably does not include thefirst selected transaction type), to receive input of a second selectedtransaction type, etc., as detailed herein.

In one embodiment of the invention, the terminal 306 includes or enablestwo or more different kernels or nuclei. These kernels (comprisingmachine-readable program code) are stored in the one or more memorydevices 332 of the terminal 306. For example, the terminal 306 mayinclude a memory 332 which stores one or more software applications andwhich also includes a segregated or protected area which stores the twoor more kernels.

In one embodiment, one or more kernels are provided which correspond todifferent transaction types. For example, a first kernel may be providedcorresponding to PIN based transaction types and another kernel may beprovided corresponding to signature based transaction types. In otherembodiments, kernels may even be provided corresponding to more detailedtransaction types, such as one for PIN based debit transactions and onefor PIN based ATM transactions.

In accordance with the invention, when a particular transaction type isselected (by an account-holder or automatically), the correspondingkernel to that transaction type is selected and utilized. Thisessentially causes the terminal 306 to be configured into a terminalwhich has a specific configuration for performing that particulartransaction type. For example, if the first transaction is an ATM typetransaction, the corresponding kernel is selected and the terminal 306is thus effectively configured as an ATM machine. On the other hand, ifa signature based transaction were selected, that corresponding kernelis selected, thus effectively causing the terminal to be configured as aPOS type device. This aspect of the invention is particularlyadvantageous because the different kernels cause the terminal 306 to beparticular configured (including by way of the particular applicationswhich are selected by the corresponding kernel and the control over theassociated terminal peripheral and other devices) to enable theparticular transaction which has been selected, including because theterminal 306 is then configured to communicate with external devices andfinancial systems in a manner which enables the terminal 306 tointerfaces with those systems for requesting/performing the particulartransaction type).

In one embodiment, the card 307 is inserted into a card reader slot ofthe terminal 306 (such as face-up into the slot, chip end first, or suchother orientation as is required by the terminal/reader).

When terminal 306 detects that the card 307 has been presented, such asby being inserted into the terminal's card slot, the terminal reads thecard. Preferably, the terminal 306 engages mechanical card componentswith the card to make physical contact with the card 307 to read thecontents of the card via provided IC card interface functions, and toauthenticate the card. As indicated herein, the authentication step mayoptionally prompt the account-holder for a pin, password, or other meansof authentication or wait until step 104 to determine the required typeof account-holder authentication for the account-holder selectedtransaction.

The card 307 preferably contains a list of Application Identifiers(AIDs) of every IC application or transaction type that the card 307 isconfigured to support (directly or via information which can be used todetermine such AIDs). In step 103, the terminal 306 generates or obtainsa candidate list of applications that are supported by both the terminal306 and the card 307 (the list might be generated in various ways, suchas by direct interrogation, using a look-up table, remote validation,etc.).

Once a list of supported applications is built or obtained by terminal306, the terminal is configured to cause an associated video display todisplay the list and information (such as text and/or graphics, such asin the form of a graphical user interface) to prompt the account-holderto select the desired type of transaction and the desired amount of thetransaction.

In step 104, the account-holder provides input to the terminal 306, suchas via touching the touchscreen or keypad of the terminal, to choose thedesired application or transaction type. Possible transactions for aparticular account-holder may be one or more of the following: aPIN-based transaction, a signature-based transaction, or other types oftransactions now known or later developed.

When the account-holder selects a PIN-based transaction (which inconjunction with the use of an IC card may be referred to as achip-and-PIN type transaction), the account-holder inputs suchinformation, such by using the terminal's touchscreen or keypad to entera sequence of numbers. If the transaction requires a signature (whichmay be referred to as a chip-and-signature or signature-basedtransaction), then as described below, the terminal 306 might beconfigured to collect the signature or perform other authentication orverification (such as by collecting identification information; suchcollection might be performed via interaction with a remote agent viathe terminal or by direct implementation by the terminal), or thisauthentication might be performed remotely, such as by requiring theaccount-holder to physically go to a casino cage or to some otherlocation where a signature (physical, digital or other type as meets therequirements for the transaction) can be collected by a cashier or otherappropriate personnel (and which authentication may also requirecollection of secondary physical identification, such as from or via anidentification card such as a state or federally issued identificationcard). Of course, the account-holder may not be required to perform theauthentication steps unless the transaction is approved.

In this regard, one aspect of the invention is a unique two-partsignature based transaction. In particular, in accordance with thepresent invention, the account-holder's request for funds using asignature based transaction may initially be performed at the terminal306 by obtaining an approval of the request for funds. Theaccount-holder may be provided with a receipt or other confirmation ofthe approval and may travel to a cashier (or other location where aphysical attendant exists), where upon the cashier may confirm theidentity of the account-holder and collect the account-holder'ssignature, thus completing the second part of the transaction at asecond location other than the terminal 306.

If there is only one application or transaction type supported by thecard, such as a PIN-based transaction, that transaction is preferablyautomatically be selected without prompting the account-holder to selectthe application.

Once the application has been selected, the requested financialtransaction is initiated in accordance with the selected transactiontype. As described herein, this may entail use of different informationand/or networks for attempting to process the financial transaction. Inone embodiment, the terminal 306 provides the card 307 with data that itrequests in a Processing Options Data Object List (PDOL). The PDOL is alist of data from the terminal 306 that is required by the card at thebeginning of a Read Application Data (RAD) stage. The terminal 306 mayuse a Direct Object List (DOL), a list containing one or more pairs oftags and lengths but not values, and the associated processing rules, toformat the requested data and to obtain transaction processing options.The terminal 306 then sends the data to the card 307 in a Get ProcessingOptions (GPO) request prompting the card to supply the Application FileLocator (AFL) to the terminal. The AFL is used by terminal 306 to readthe application data records from the card 307 comprising tags ofinformation used for transaction processing including cardholderverification and card authentication.

In step 105, cardholder verification checks that the person using thecard 307 is the cardholder. The card 307 contains a list of verificationmethods that it supports, and the conditions under which they should beapplied. The terminal 306 preferably automatically navigates through thelist and attempts the first method it finds for which the condition ismet. For example, a list might contain a list of two items: online PIN(if unattended cash) and signature (always). If a method fails, theterminal 306 checks if additional methods are allowed. Then the cardand/or terminal analyzes the results of all previous steps anddetermines: 1) to seek online authorization of the transaction, or 2) tocomplete it offline at a secondary location after a signature iscollected, or 3) to decline the transaction.

In step 106, the transaction or request for monetary value is preferablytransmitted from the terminal to one or more remote systems or devicesfor processing. In one embodiment, the transaction request is sent fromthe terminal 306 via a communication link 305 to a remote processor 304.The remote processor 304 might be implemented by a computing device,such as a server, such as having one or more processors executingsoftware, a communication interface and the like. The processor 304determines the type of transaction and routes the transaction request toan appropriate financial processing network and/or device, which networkand/or device might vary depending upon the transaction type. Forexample, the processor 304 might either route the transaction to a POSnetwork 302 or to a financial processing network 303 (or other relevantnetwork or system), then on to the card issuer bank 301 (or otherfinancial institution, system or entity with which the account-holder'sfinancial account is associated). In another embodiment, the terminal306 may directly route the transaction or request to the financialprocessing network.

The bank 301 (such as via a computing device or computing systemassociated with the bank, either automatically and/or via user input)analyzes the transaction details and decides to authorize or reject thetransaction request. For example, the bank 301 may check the accountstatus and apply criteria based upon acceptable limits of risk definedby the bank 301, the payment scheme and the acquirer. If no validresponse is received from the processor 304 due to communicationsfailure, then the terminal 306 performs additional Terminal ActionAnalysis, the results of which will determine whether the transaction isaccepted or declined.

Whether the transaction has been approved or denied by the bank 301, aresponse (such as an approval or denial) is sent back to terminal 306(or if no response is received, such as a result of a communicationtime-out, then the terminal 306 may default to a “denial” status). Instep 107, terminal 306 receives the transaction response andauthenticates it.

If in step 108 the requested transaction has been accepted or approved,in step 109 the terminal 306 delivers or provides access to therequested funds (such as by issuing coins, currency, tickets and/or viaelectronic transfer, etc.). Alternatively, the terminal 306 may providethe account-holder with a list of options with regards to how funds areto be delivered. This may include, but is not limited to: cash, casinoticket, and/or funds transfer (such as to an e-wallet, a gaming orcasino account, another account, a vendor account, etc.). Where asignature is required, additional authentication steps may be performedat the terminal 306 or remotely. For example, in one embodiment, theterminal 306 may prompt the account-holder to complete the transactionat a secondary location such as a casino cage where a signature may becollected, identification may be verified, etc. In another example, theauthentication may be performed at the terminal 306, such as via aremotely interfaced agent or directly via the terminal (such as by inputof a signature to the terminal, providing identification to theterminal—such as presenting/reading an identification card, etc.).

If the first transaction was denied, then in a step 110, if otherapplications or transaction types are available, a second application ortransaction type is preferably automatically (e.g. withoutaccount-holder input or prompting) generated and presented (such as viaa displayed menu or list of remaining transaction types). If moreapplications or transaction types remain available (e.g. are supportedand were not previously selected and processed as above), then in step111, the account-holder will be prompted in step 113 to choose thesecond application or transaction processing type to generate a secondfunds request transaction. If no additional applications are available,then the process ends at step 112 as a result of the funds denial (atwhich point the account-holder may be prompted to remove their card fromthe terminal 306). For example, if the card 306 supports both PIN andsignature based transaction types and the first selected transactiontype was a PIN transaction, then the account-holder may be presentedwith the option to perform a second transaction attempt using asignature based transaction type (of course, if a different transactiontype was selected as the first transaction type, such as a signaturebased transaction type, and this first transaction type was denied, thenin step 110 a new list of remaining application types which exclude thesignature based transaction type would be generated).

In step 114, the terminal 306 rereads the card 307 and re-authenticates,then creates new application list (e.g. creates a list of supportedapplication or transaction types, excluding the initial failed/rejectedtransaction(s), such as an initial PIN-based transaction). In oneembodiment, the available transaction types may be determined byinterrogating the card for supported transaction types, though othermeans may be used to determine the available transaction types. Thecardholder is authenticated (step 115) and the transaction is initiatedvia the second transaction type (such as using the appropriate protocoland network(s), such as by sending the second requested transaction toprocessor and on to bank (step 116). In step 117 the terminal 306receives the response transaction. If the transaction was authorized,the terminal 306 either delivers funds to the account-holder or promptsthe account-holder with a list of options regarding how funds may bedelivered. This may again include dispensing of cash or a casino ticket,funds transfer to an e-wallet, funds transfer to a gaming account, etc.Where a signature is required, the terminal 306 prompts theaccount-holder to complete the transaction, such as at the terminal orremotely at a secondary location as described above.

If the transaction is denied, the terminal 306 builds a new applicationor transaction type list with those applications/transaction types thatare supported and were not previously denied, and the process returns tostep 110. This continues until either the transaction has been accepted,the account-holder elects to discontinue the transaction, or until thereare no more applications for the account-holder to use to access funds,wherein the account-holder is denied.

Once the desired transaction is completed, no further transaction typesare available or are selected by the account-holder, then the card 307may be removed from the terminal 306. In this regard, it will beappreciated that a card “session” may be referred to as the periodbetween when the card 307 is inserted and when it is removed. During asingle session, as described herein, multiple transactions may beperformed or may be attempted while the card remains engaged with thereader (as indicated herein, one important aspect of the invention isthat the terminal is configured to present and process multipletransaction types without the account-holder having to remove andre-insert their card between an attempted first transaction type and asecond (or subsequent) attempted transaction type). In one embodiment,the account-holder may be prompted to remove their card, such as via aprompt which is displayed on a display of the terminal: a) aftersuccessful completion of a financial transaction via the firsttransaction type; b) after the account-holder declines to attempt asecond (or subsequent) transaction type when the processing via thefirst transaction type was unsuccessful; and c) after successfulcompletion of the financial transaction via a second (or subsequent)transaction type. An account-holder might also be prompted to maintainthe card in its inserted position after a financial transaction isunsuccessful via a first transaction type to ensure that the terminalcan re-read the card and prepare the new list. Aside from informationdisplayed on a display, such prompts might include lights (such as a REDlight to indicate the card should not be removed and a GREEN light whenthe account-holder should remove the card).

One example of the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 4A-4I. These figures illustrate exemplary screen shots, such aswhich might be displayed by a screen 322 of a terminal 306 such as thatillustrated in FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, an account-holdermight be instructed to insert their card 307 into a card reader of thekiosk or terminal 306 to begin a transaction. In the preferredembodiment, once the account-holder inserts their card, they may beinstructed to leave the card inserted for the duration of thetransaction in order to facilitate the method of the invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 4B, once an account-holder has inserted theircard 307, they may be presented with different options for accessingfunds, such as via an ATM (chip and PIN) type transaction or a CashAdvance (chip and signature) type transaction (wherein the offeredtransactions types may be determined by an interrogation of theaccount-holder's card for the different types of supportedtransactions). One or more of the available transaction options may bedisplayed to the account-holder. In this example, the account-holder hasselected “ATM Cash.” In response, as illustrated in FIG. 4C, theaccount-holder may be instructed to enter their PIN, such as via akeypad of the terminal 306. Upon entry of the correct PIN for theiraccount, the account-holder may be presented with the option ofselecting a desired account from which to access funds (such as ifmultiple accounts are associated with the account-holder's card 307).For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4D, an account-holder might bepresented with the option to access funds from their checking or savingsaccount.

As illustrated in FIG. 4E, upon selecting a desired account, theaccount-holder may be provided with the option of selecting a desiredtransaction amount. This information might be presented in variousmanners, such as by presenting the account-holder with the option toselect a particular pre-designated amount (such as $20, $40, etc.) or byinputting a desired amount.

In this example, the account-holder has selected or input a desiredamount, but the desired amount has been determined to exceed thewithdrawal limit for the account (such as based upon a maximum dailywithdrawal limit). Most importantly, as illustrated in FIG. 4F, theaccount-holder has been so notified and has automatically been presentedwith the option of seeking funds via a different transaction type. Inaccordance with the present invention, as described above, theaccount-holder's card preferably remains inserted or engaged during thisprocess. The account-holder's card may have been interrogated todetermine that the card also supports funds access via a cash advancetype transaction (either initially or after rejection of the firsttransaction). As a result, this type of transaction has been offered tothe account-holder as an alternative means of accessing funds.

In this example, the account-holder has selected the option of accessingfunds via a cash advance and has, as illustrated in FIG. 4G, again beenasked to provide their PIN. As illustrated in FIG. 4H, once the PIN hasbeen input and verified, the account-holder may again be presented withthe option of selecting a desired transaction amount. In this example,the account-holder has selected or input a desired amount and the amounthas been approved. In one embodiment, a receipt has been issued by theterminal 306 representing the transaction. As illustrated in FIG. 4I,the account-holder may be instructed to now remove their card 307 (e.g.the account-holder only now removes their card after the completion ofthe transaction after the initial transaction was rejected, thesecondary transaction was offered and completed) and to take theirreceipt. The receipt may provide evidence of the transaction and mayinstruct the account-holder to go to a cashier or other location toobtain their funds. When the account-holder goes to the cashier, theymay provide their receipt to the cashier and may be provided therequested funds, such as upon secondary authentication (such as byproviding a signature).

Of course, FIGS. 4A-4I are just one example of screen shots ofinformation which may be presented to an account-holder of a terminalbased upon a transaction which is implemented in accordance with thepresent invention. Other information might be displayed to theaccount-holder or the information might be displayed in other manners.Further, different information would be displayed based upon other typesof available transactions, user inputs/selections and the like.

In the embodiment described above, when the terminal 306 first reads theaccount-holder's card, the terminal creates an AID list and the presentall available transaction types to the account-holder, and if a firsttransaction type is denied, later presents all available remainingtransaction types to the account-holder. In another embodiment of theinvention, however, certain transaction types may be automaticallyselected at one or more times.

As one example, in an alternate embodiment of the invention andreferring again to FIG. 1A, in step 103 the terminal 306 creates anapplication or AID list. If that list contains a designated transactiontype, that transaction type is automatically used as the firsttransaction type—e.g. a list is not displayed to the account-holder andthe account-holder does not select the first transaction type in step104). For example, cards may include AIDs corresponding to singletransaction types and/or global transaction types (as such is known inthe industry). In accordance with the invention, if a card includes aglobal AID, then that transaction type is automatically selected as thefirst transaction type. For example, a card may include a global AIDsupporting a PIN based debit transaction. In that event, thattransaction type is automatically selected, the account-holder isprompted to input or select the request transaction amount, and theprocess continues, as at step 106.

In this embodiment, if the card AIDs do not include one of thedesignated transaction types, then a list of transaction types is stillpresented to the account-holder and the account-holder makes a selectionof a first transaction type, as in step 104. For example, if thedesignated transaction type is a global transaction type but the cardonly includes AIDs corresponding to two non-global transaction types,then both of those transaction types may be displayed to theaccount-holder for selection.

In this configuration, the same process may be applied in the event afirst transaction fails. In particular, in that event, the terminal 306may re-read the card 307 and determine if any designated transactiontypes remain. If so, that designated transaction type may beautomatically selected without user input. For example, a card 307 mayhave two global AIDs. In the first transaction one of those globaltransaction types may be automatically selected (without user input orselection). If that transaction fails, the player may be prompted as towhether they wish to engage in another attempted transaction. If so, theterminal 306 may automatically use the second global application typewhich is supported by the card 307, without the account-holder's input.

Of course, other variations of the invention are possible, includingvariations which include other or additional steps to those indicatedabove and illustrated in the figures, which eliminate one or more ofthose steps, or wherein the steps are performed in other orders. As oneexample, a terminal 306 may be configured to only allow two transactionattempts to be performed. In such a configuration, the process by whichan account-holder may select a third or later transaction type andattempt (as described with reference to step 118 above) may not exist.

Also, a second transaction type might automatically be selected (e.g.without user selection) when a card 307 only supports two differenttransaction types. As one example, a card 307 might include one globalAID and one non-global AID. In that case, the global AID might beautomatically selected as the first transaction type. If thattransaction is denied, then the remaining second non-global transactiontype may automatically be selected and utilized since no others exist.

In one embodiment, the terminal 306 might maintain in a memory thereofinformation regarding one or more previously selected transaction types.This stored information may be used in the creation of a modified listof remaining available transaction types that may be utilized orselected by the account-holder. For example, the terminal 306 maydetermine that a card 307 supports transaction types A, B and C. Iftransaction type A is utilized first, the terminal 306 may store thatinformation, whereby when the terminal 306 later reads the card 307 andpresents a list of remaining transaction types, it can excludetransaction type A from that list, knowing that it was already utilized.In another embodiment, the terminal 306 might initially read the card307 and store the entire list of AIDs or transaction types and then theremove each one from the list as it is selected and utilized. In yetanother embodiment, the terminal 306 might simply be configured topermit two different transaction types and, by way of the flow of theprocess, implement each one in succession (without storing informationregarding the transaction types and which ones have been utilized). Forexample, the terminal 306 might be configured to automatically utilize aPIN-based transaction type as the first transaction type. In that event,if the first transaction is denied, the terminal might automaticallyprompt the account-holder as to whether they wish to proceed using thesecond transaction type (which may be a signature-based transaction)because that is the only second type of transaction which the terminal306 is configured to implement (e.g. the terminal 306 doesn't includelogic which allows it to create detailed lists of available secondtransaction types but instead is simply configured to ask if the playerwishes to try a designated second transaction type and, if so, see ifthe card supports that type). If the player so elects, then the terminal306 may verify that the card supports that transaction type and proceedaccordingly.

As another aspect of the invention, the terminal 306 might also limitthe user or display of certain transaction types, such as based upon theknown or determined capabilities of the card 307. For example, a card307 might identify multiple AIDs, but the terminal 306 may determinethat some or all of those are not supported (such as based upon thecapabilities of the card) and thus may either not use (such as whentransaction types are selected automatically) or display or allowselection of (such as when the account-holder is provided with a list)those transaction types.

Dual Transaction Alternative Embodiment

In an alternative embodiment, after a card 307 is inserted andqueried/authenticated, a query transaction is sent from the terminal 306to the bank 301 (or other financial institution), such as via processor304, to retrieve a debit account daily limit amount which is availablefrom the account(s) which is associated with the account-holderpresented card 307.

One embodiment of this process will be described with reference to FIGS.2A and 2B. Step 100 through step 105 are as previously described.

In step 206 a debit account daily amount available transaction query issent from the terminal 306 to the bank 301, such as after anaccount-holder requests a desired transaction amount. The bank 301 thenresponds to the processor 304 and the processor responds back to theterminal 306 to provide the debit daily limit amount that is available.In step 207, the daily limit or other accessible amount is checkedagainst the amount requested by the account-holder. If the amountrequested is more than the amount available, the terminal 306 promptsthe account-holder with an option to split the request into two or moredifferent transactions based upon different transaction types. As oneexample, the transaction might be split into: 1) a PIN-based transactionfor the amount available and a 2) signature-based transaction wherein asignature is required (such as via the terminal or at a secondarylocation such as a casino cage) for the additional or remaining amountwhich was requested.

In step 208, the first transaction (such as the PIN-based transaction)is sent from the terminal 306 to the processor 304 for onlineprocessing.

In step 209, the bank 301 returns a response to the terminal 306 via theprocessor. If the PIN-based transaction is approved, the terminal 306logs the amount approved, then in step 210, the terminal 306 rereads thecard 307 and authenticates. In step 211, the terminal 306 prepares asecond transaction.

The second transaction is sent to the processor 304 for onlineprocessing in step 212. A response is then received and authenticated bythe terminal 306 in step 213 and a decision is made in step 214. If thesecond transaction is denied, the account-holder is notified that amountrequested exceeds the daily debit amount limit and the secondary POStransaction has been denied. The terminal 306 then dispenses the amountavailable from the transaction.

If the second transaction is approved, step 216 the terminal 306 promptsthe account-holder with a list of option regarding how funds may bedelivered. This may include cash, a casino ticket, funds transfer toe-wallet, funds transfer to a gaming account, etc.

While aspects of the invention have been described with reference to theperspective of the account-holder or system operator, it will beappreciated that the invention corresponds to both entities. Forexample, while the invention includes the step of an account-holderpresenting a card at a terminal, the invention correspondingly includesthe step of the terminal operator “receiving” the card via presentationof the card at the terminal.

While certain transaction types and associated financial processingsystems have been described herein, it will be appreciated that thetransactions might be referred to by other terminology (for example, an“ATM” transaction is often used to referred to as a PIN-basedtransaction due to the fact that automated teller machines arefrequently used to process PIN-based transactions; other transactionsare often referred to as POS, debit, or credit transactions or the likeand the invention may apply to any such transaction). Further, theinvention may apply to other types of applications or transaction typesnow known or later developed. Further, while the invention hasparticular utility to an IC card, aspects of the invention may beapplied to other cards or media having similar characteristics.

As indicated herein, in one embodiment of the invention, AIDs aredetermined from the card and the player may be presented with a menu ofdifferent available transaction types and may select from thosetransaction types (either in the initial processing of a request forfunds or in a sub-sequent attempt). In another embodiment, the AIDsmight be determined and then the terminal or system might automaticallyselect or present the transaction processing type. For example, upondetermining that the card supports both chip-and-pin andchip-and-signature type transactions, the terminal might automaticallyinitially select the chip-and-pin transaction (wherein if the requestedtransaction cannot be processed via that type of transaction, theterminal might then present the chip-and-signature as an alternative).

In yet another embodiment of the method, the AIDs may not even been reador used. Instead, the terminal and/or system might be configured toautomatically present and/or try particular transaction types (such ascommon transaction types or certain ones which the terminal isprogrammed to implement), without regard to a determination of whetherthe card supports that type of transaction. In that event, the methodmay be streamlined by automatically processing a requested transactionusing a first transaction type (e.g. without the steps of determiningavailable transaction types, presenting available transaction typeoptions to the account-holder and receiving a selection thereof), asecond transaction type, etc., even though in a few cases a transactionmight be rejected because the selected transaction is not of the typesupported by the card.

In an alternative embodiment, a particular IC card issued by a bank,credit union, casino or a corporation such as Everi Holdings, Inc., mayfurther support a plurality of applications and transactions from morethan one financial account located at different financial institutions,banks or credit unions whereby the identified options may includeselection of a designated account and transaction type.

It will be appreciated that the steps of the methods described hereinmay be performed in other orders (for example, user authentication (suchas the receiving of an account-holder's signature) might be performedbefore a transaction is processed or after it is approved. Further,methods of the invention might comprise other or additional steps.

The invention has numerous advantages. A particular advantage of theinvention is the processing of a financial transaction using an IC cardwhere multiple transaction attempts may be performed to complete thetransaction without requiring the account-holder to remove and re-insertthe card or re-initiate a completely new transaction. In particular, inaccordance with the invention, a unique methodology is employed whichallows a terminal to attempt to process a sequence of differentfinancial transaction types in order to fulfill an account-holder'srequest to access funds, even in the face of the unique securityconfiguration of an IC card. Importantly, the terminal is configured toautomatically present and prompt an account-holder with additionaloptions for fulfilling a financial transaction request even when aninitial transaction failed.

It will be understood that the above described arrangements of apparatusand the method there from are merely illustrative of applications of theprinciples of this invention and many other embodiments andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An improved financial terminal that automaticallyreconfigures into different financial processing terminal typescomprising: a housing; a card reader configured to accept at least aportion of a card having an integrated circuit; at least one display; atleast one processor; and at least one memory configured to store machinereadable code, said machine readable code comprising a first kernelcorresponding to a first transaction type and a second kernelcorresponding to a second transaction type, wherein said machinereadable code is configured, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, to: determine available financial transaction typesassociated with said card accepted by said card reader, configure saidfinancial terminal to a first configuration by utilizing said firstkernel to process a first financial transaction, when said firstfinancial transaction is denied, automatically reconfigure saidfinancial terminal to a second configuration by utilizing said secondkernel to process a second financial transaction.
 2. The improvedfinancial terminal of claim 1 further comprising a communicationinterface configured to transmit information to and receive informationfrom at least one financial processing network.
 3. The improvedfinancial terminal of claim 2 wherein said machine readable code isfurther configured to send, via said communication interface, a requestto process said first financial transaction as a transaction of saidfirst transaction type.
 4. The improved financial terminal of claim 3wherein said machine readable code is further configured to send, viasaid communication interface, a request to process said second financialtransaction as a transaction of said second transaction type.
 5. Theimproved financial terminal of claim 1 further comprising a monetarydispensing device.
 6. The improved financial terminal of claim 1 whereinsaid first transaction type is a Personal Identification Number (“PIN”)based transaction type.
 7. The improved financial terminal of claim 6wherein said second transaction type is a Signature based transactiontype.
 8. The improved financial terminal of claim 1 wherein said card isnot ejected from said card reader when said first financial transactionis denied.
 9. The improved financial terminal of claim 8 wherein saidcard is automatically re-read by said card reader after said firstfinancial transaction is denied.
 10. The improved financial terminal ofclaim 1 wherein said configuring said financial terminal to a firstconfiguration is based upon receipt of user input.
 11. The improvedfinancial terminal of claim 1 wherein said configuring said financialterminal to a first configuration is a default configuration withoutrequiring receipt of user input.
 12. An improved financial terminal thatautomatically reconfigures into different financial processing terminaltypes comprising: a housing; a card reader configured to accept at leasta portion of a card having an integrated circuit; at least one display;at least one processor; and at least one memory configured to storemachine readable code, said machine readable code comprising a firstkernel corresponding to a first transaction type and a second kernelcorresponding to a second transaction type, wherein said machinereadable code is configured, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, to: determine available financial transaction typesassociated with said card accepted by said card reader, configure saidfinancial terminal to a first configuration by utilizing said firstkernel, said financial terminal in said first configuration capable ofprocessing a first financial transaction solely based upon said firsttransaction type; process said first financial transaction; when saidfirst financial transaction is denied, automatically re-read said cardwhile said card remains accepted into said card reader and automaticallyreconfigure said financial terminal to a second configuration byutilizing said second kernel, said financial terminal in said secondconfiguration capable of processing a second financial transactionsolely based upon said second transaction type; and process said secondfinancial transaction.